This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for

this module and should not be

passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

Faculty of Business and Law

Assignment Brief

Module Title: Business analytics Assignment

and Intelligence Number and
Weighting 60%
Module Code: 7045SSL Assignment Report
Title

Release Date: 20/05/2020 Module Leader Alfred Akakpo

Submission 27/07/2020
Date/Time: 18:00
Submission Submission
Time and Place: through Moodle
ONLY

Assessment Information

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes 1, 2 and 4

Learning outcomes

1. Define and evaluate key concepts of business analytics.

2. Critically apply business analytics skills for decision making.

3. Critically analyse and interpret the outputs of data mining models and forecasting
results for end-users.

4. Solve managerial problems and make systematic decisions by applying business data
analysis techniques.

5. Have ability to apply business analytics to various international business contexts by

selecting appropriate techniques.

Task One-Business analytics concepts [10 marks]

a. Critically analyse and explain the different types of Clustering algorithms, steps of
clustering, their benefits and applications. [10 marks]

Assignment 2 Brief
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Task Two-Marketing Analytics [40 marks]

You have been employed as a business analyst in a Bicycle manufacturing company. A new
e-Bike has been designed and prepared to be launched in the market. Determine the
appropriate price for the new developed product with the aim of maximizing the company’s
profit. The demand of new product has a direct relationship to its price. It is assumed that you
have predicted the demand for each price level based on previous experiences as well as other
marketing research tools (reported in Table 1).

Table 1- Estimated demand of a new bicycle based on a price level

Price (£) Demand (in Thousand)

1100 170
1125 166
1150 150
1175 138
1200 133
1225 131
1250 120
1275 105
1300 95
1325 90
1350 80
1375 75
1400 72
1425 70
1450 67
1475 64
1500 62
1525 61.5
1550 60
1575 59.5

The main objective of the company is to maximize profit with regards to the new Bike. It is
assumed that the unit production and supply cost of each Bike is £900, so the profit
of each unit will be (the sale price – unit production cost).

.
a) Use Excel to determine the estimated demand quadratic equation function. [5 marks]

b) Use Excel solver to find the optimal price which maximizes the company’s profit. [5
marks]

c) Determine the optimal demand. [5 marks]

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d) Compute the optimal profit. [5 marks]

e) Interpret the results. [5 marks]

f) If the supply cost of each e-Bike is 1000, 1100, 1150, determine the optimal
price and interpret the results appropriately. [15 marks]

Task Three: Forecasting [50 marks]

After making the price decision for the new Bikes in Task 2, the new e-Bike was distributed
in the market. The number of sold Bike data was gathered for the past 15 periods and
presented in Table 2. Your line manager has asked you to forecast the amount of sales of
Bikes for the 16th period using exponential smoothing average method. Use smoothing
constants of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5. It is expected that you find the proper smoothing constant for
the forecast.
In this task, proper interpretation is required.

Table 2: Number of sold e-Bikes during last 15 periods.

Period Sale (in Thousands)

1 137
a. Compute the 2 138 forecasted sale using an
alpha value of 0.3 [5 3 134 marks]
4 133
b. Plot the data for 5 136 the actual demand and
the forecasted 6 140 figures. Describe the
7 137
main features of 8 141 the series. [5 marks]
c. Calculate the 9 136 error, Mean Absolute
10 142
Deviation (MAD) error, Mean Square Error
11 145
(MSE) and Mean 12 143 Absolute Percentage
13 145
Error (MAPE). [10 marks]
14 142
d. Compute the 15 150 forecasted values with
the smoothing 16 constants of 0.4 and 0.5.
[10 marks]
e. Compute the Error, Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) error, Mean Square Error
(MSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) for the smoothing constants of
0.4 and 0.5. [10 Mark]
f. Compare extracted measures for different smoothing constants and select the proper
one. [5 marks]

Assignment 2 Brief
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passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

g. Forecast the demand for 16th period and discuss the outcome of the forecasted sale
amount. [5 Mark]

Word Count
Word count= 2500
There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for
a
report exceeding 10% or more.
The word limit includes quotations, but excludes appendices, the final reference list,
graphs and tables.

How to submit your assessment

The report must be submitted by 18:00. on 27/07/2020. No paper copies are required. You
can access the submission link through the module web.

 Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin.
Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.
 All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason
(see below) will be given a mark of zero.
 The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events
happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events
should be beyond your control and not easy to predict.  If this happens, you can apply for
an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply
for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit
period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.
You will find information about the process and what is or is not considered to be an
event beyond your control at
https://share.coventry.ac.uk/students/Registry/Pages/Deferrals-and-Extension.aspx
 Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
 Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved
plagiarism checking websites.

GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT

Plagiarism

As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when
writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s
writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work.
Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without

Assignment 2 Brief
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passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing

as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of
others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If
you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. You can also check your
understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz
available on Moodle. Moodle includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are
experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work,
using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are
examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the
CU Harvard Reference Style (on Moodle) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or
cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic
Writing, your Academic Personal Tutor or a member of the course team.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have marked work returned to you 17/08/2020 (15 working days for level
1 and 2, 10 working days for level 3 and M level). If for any reasons there is a delay you will
be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online/in class/face to face. As
always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional;
your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed
his / her review.

Criteria for Assessment

 Knowledge and Understanding (Addresses LOs)-30%

 Critical Analysis, Evaluation and Application of Theory-30%

 Academic writing (accurate citations and referencing)-10%

 Quality of Research (Evidence of reading, use of resources and research)-20%

 Presentation style (present work in a professional manner, grammatical errors, pitch,

pace and tone at the appropriate levels, visually appealing)-10%

Assignment 2 Brief
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Banding Knowledge and Critical Analysis, Quality of Academic Writing- Presentation-10%

Understanding-30% Evaluation and Research-20% 10%
Application of
Theory-30%
90-100% Exceptional knowledge Demonstrates an Exceptional Exceptional answer Excellent range of theories +
base exploring, exceptional command exploration of with coherent and experiences considered with
critically analysing and of relevant critical wider academic logical presentation of full evaluation/
evaluating the analytical and/or sources with a high ideas. The answer justification for preferred
discipline and its theory evaluative techniques, degree of exhibits a clear theory as applied
with extraordinary and the ability to apply independent argument/line of
originality and these to new and/or learning which reasoning with flair
autonomy. abstract information exceeds the and originality.
and situations. Shows assessment brief. Discipline specific
an exceptional Sources have been vocabulary used with
appreciation of the accurately precision and
limits and/or interpreted and academic style applied
appropriate uses of integrated with well throughout. No
particular analytical flawless synthesis, language errors
approaches, where leading to present and
relevant. Knowledge innovative and referencing in the CU
and understanding of interesting ideas. version of Harvard has
theory, where relevant, been employed in an
is of an exceptional accurate manner.
detail. High level of
appreciation of the
limits of theory
demonstrated
throughout the work,
where relevant
Approach to
assessment task is

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clearly, appropriately
and consistently
theoretically informed
across all relevant
learning outcomes.
80-89% Outstanding knowledge Demonstrates an Outstanding Outstanding answer Good range of theories considered
base exploring, outstanding command exploration of with coherent and with some evaluation/ justification
critically analysing and of relevant critical wider academic logical presentation of for preferred theory as applied
evaluating the and/or evaluative sources with a high ideas. The answer
discipline and its theory analytical techniques, degree of exhibits a clear
with clear originality and the ability to apply independent argument/line of
and autonomy these to new and/or learning which reasoning with flair
abstract information exceeds the and originality.
and situations. Shows assignment brief. Discipline specific
an outstanding Sources have been vocabulary used with
appreciation of the accurately precision and
limits and/or interpreted and academic style applied
appropriate uses of integrated with a well throughout. No
particular analytical high degree of language errors
approaches. Knowledge synthesis, leading present. Referencing
and understanding of to innovative and in the CU version of
theory, where relevant, interesting ideas. Harvard has been
is of an outstanding employed in an
detail. Appreciation of accurate manner.
the limits of theory
demonstrated
throughout the work.
Approach to
assessment task is
clearly, appropriately
and consistently
theoretically informed

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across all relevant

learning outcomes.
70-79% Excellent knowledge Makes excellent use of Excellent Excellent answer with Good range of theories
base that supports a range of relevant exploration of coherent and logical considered with some
critical analysis and/or critical analysis and/or wider academic presentation of ideas. evaluation/ justification
evaluation and evaluative techniques, sources with The answer exhibits a for preferred theory as applied
problem-solving in and applies these to evidence of clear argument/line of
theory and/or practice new and/or abstract independent reasoning with flair
within the discipline, information and learning which may and originality. The
with considerable situations. Shows well exceed the answer is entirely
originality developed ability to assignment brief. relevant and focused.
compare alternative Sources have been Discipline specific
theories and apply them accurately vocabulary used with
to the context of the interpreted and precision and
assessment task and all integrated, with academic style applied
learning outcomes. accurate synthesis well throughout. No
Demonstrates a of research leading language errors
detailed, accurate, to original and present. Referencing
systematic theoretical interesting ideas. in the CU version of
understanding. Harvard has been
Appropriately selected employed in an
theoretical knowledge accurate manner.
is integrated into the
overall assessment task
and all learning
outcomes.
60-69% Very good knowledge Makes good use of Very good Very good answer Range of theories appropriately
base that supports established techniques evidence of wider with coherent and included + applied
critical analysis and/or of critical analysis academic reading logical presentation of
evaluation and and/or evaluation, and independent ideas. The answer is
problem-solving in relevant to the learning. Sources relevant and focused
theory and/or practice discipline. Shows a have been with a clear

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within the discipline, developing ability to accurately argument/line of

with some originality compare alternative interpreted, reasoning. Discipline
displayed. theories and/or integrated, with specific vocabulary is
analytical approaches, evidence of used well and
where relevant. Shows synthesis leading to academic style applied
a systematic and original ideas. throughout. Minor
accurate understanding language errors may
of key theories, where be present but do not
relevant, which are impact on clarity of
appropriately applied expression.
within the context of Referencing in the CU
the assessment task and version of Harvard is
learning outcomes. accurate.
50-59% Good knowledge base Good use of established Good evidence of Good answer with Several good examples of
that supports some techniques of critical wider academic coherent and logical evidence of application provided
critical analysis and/or analysis and/or reading and presentation. The
evaluation and evaluation, relevant to independent answer is largely
problem-solving in the discipline. Sound learning. Sources relevant but lacks
theory and/or practice descriptive knowledge have been focus at points.
within the discipline. of key theories, where interpreted and Evidence of an
relevant, with some integrated, with argument/line of
appropriate application some attempt at reasoning. Discipline
synthesis specific vocabulary is
used and academic
style applied
throughout. Minimal
language errors are
present but does not
impact on clarity.
Referencing in the CU
version of Harvard is
mostly accurate.

Assignment 2 Brief
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40-49% Satisfactory knowledge Makes satisfactory but Satisfactory Satisfactory answer . Small amount of evidence of
base demonstrating limited use of evidence of wider with some attempt at application
comprehension and established techniques academic reading, coherence and logical
formulation of basic of critical analysis but with minimal presentation. The
knowledge with some and/or evaluation, attempt to move answer contains some
omissions at the level of relevant to the beyond the irrelevant material and
theoretical discipline. Selection of recommended lacks focus at points.
understanding. theory, where relevant, texts. Interpretation Some discipline
Limited ability to is satisfactory but of sources is specific vocabulary is
discuss theory and application and/or acceptable, but used and an attempt at
solve problems within understanding is there may be some academic writing style
the discipline. limited. instances of is made. There is an
misunderstanding. attempt at an
Poor synthesis of argument/ line of
theories and reasoning. Some
concepts within the language errors may
discipline. be present which
impacts on clarity at
times. Referencing in
the CU version of
Harvard is mostly
accurate but with
some errors.
35-39% Outcomes not or Attempts at critical Limited evidence Answer is limited and No (FAIL) or very little (REFER)
(Margin partially met. Restricted analysis and/or of wider reading at lacks coherence and evidence of application
al Fail) knowledge base. evaluation are an academic level. logical presentation.
Limited understanding ineffective and/or Sources used may The answer contains
of discipline and ethical uninformed by the be inappropriate irrelevant material and
issues. Difficulty with discipline. Knowledge and interpreted lacks focus throughout
linking theory and of theory inaccurate poorly. Little with no argument/line
problem solving in and/or incomplete, evidence of of reasoning.
discipline. where relevant. Choice integration or Language errors are

Assignment 2 Brief
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of theory inappropriate. synthesis of present and impact on

Application and/or discipline specific clarity of expression.
understanding is very theories and No attempt at using
limited. concepts. discipline specific
vocabulary and
inconsistent
application of
academic writing
style. Referencing in
the CU version of
Harvard is
inconsistent.
0 – 34% Little or no evidence of Lacks any critical Inadequate or no Answer is inadequate No (FAIL) or very little
% knowledge base. Little analysis and/or evidence of reading with serious flaws in (REFER) evidence of application
evidence of evaluation. Absence of at an academic coherence and
understanding of relevant theoretical level with poor presentation. Poorly
discipline. Significant content and/or use of application of structured with
difficulty with theory theory, where relevant. sources and ideas. multiple language
and problem solving in Answer is likely to errors which impact
discipline. include on clarity. No attempt
inappropriate at subject specific
references which vocabulary or
are misunderstood inaccurately used. No
and not integrated. evidence of academic
Possibility of writing style. Weak
plagiarism OR no application of CU
evidence of version of Harvard
academic research. referencing style.
Answer may not be
research based.

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